Friday, 15 July 2016

Officer from Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism
Squad (ATS) yesterday arrested a 31-year-old ISIS operative from
Parbhani — radicalised by a Syria-based ISIS handler — who was preparing
to carry out a ‘major operation’ soon. The operative was identified as
Nazir Bin Yafai Chaus. A civil contractor, Nazir hails from a
middle-class family in Parbhani.
An officer said they received a tip-off about a man named Nazir who
was using various platforms on the Internet to contact ISIS handler
Faruq in Syria, following which they started monitoring his online
activities.
“Nazir had been in touch with Faruq for more than a year. For this,
he created several fake profiles and accounts on social media. He was
radicalised to the extent that he had agreed to join ISIS,” a senior ATS
officer said. Investigation revealed that Faruq had recently asked Nazir to execute a ‘major operation’ in India.
After receiving credible information that the young man was ready to
accomplish the task, the ATS arrested him. Officers are currently busy
confiscating materials Nazir had amassed to make explosives, track his
money source and people whom he had sought help from to execute the
plan.

Sources claimed Nazir was also involved in radicalising and recruiting other youths for the terror group. A senior ATS officer said they are now investigating whether Nazir
was in touch with any of the members of the Hyderabad ISIS module that
was busted by the NIA last month. Or ISIS’s pan-India module that was
jointly unearthed by the state ATS, NIA and other anti-terrorism
agencies in January.
Nazir and Faruq have been booked under relevant sections of Indian
Penal Code (IPC) and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for
acts of terrorism, recruiting members for terrorist activities,
conspiracy, being member and supporting a terrorist organisation. Nazir
was produced in a court, which remanded him in police custody till July
20.

Radicalised Parbhani man was to strike in Ramzan

A day after officers from Maharashtra
Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested ISIS operative Naser Bin Yafai
Chaus, investigators have now learnt that the radicalised 31-year-old
Commerce graduate was trained online by his Syrian handler Faruq in
making Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

While the hunt is on to trace the raw
materials Naser procured to make IEDs to execute a 'major operation' in
India, an officer said stringent sections under the explosives act will
be slapped against him if they recover an IED. The officer added that
Naser was instructed to strike during the holy months of Ramzan, but was
later asked to abort the mission due to unspecified reasons.
"Being a civil contractor, it wasn't difficult for him to amass raw
materials required to make IEDs. Investigation is on to find his
sources," said an ATS officer, adding that Naser had created various
fake profiles on social media apps like Telegram, Chatsecure Twitter and
Skype, among others, using which he was in touch with Faruq for over a
year.
It was learnt that Naser was taken into custody after he failed to
provide investigators satisfactory answers over renewal of his passport
years after it expired. He told the officers that he renewed it to visit
his relatives in Dubai and Syria. ATS is now scrutinising his contacts,
as he was also allegedly involved in radicalising and recruiting young
men to join the ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Following his arrest on Thursday night, Naser and Faruq were booked
under relevant sections of the IPC and the Unlawful Activities
Prevention Act (UAPA) for acts of terrorism, recruiting members for
terrorist activities, conspiracy, being a member of and supporting a
terrorist organisation (ISIS). Naser was produced in the Sambhajinagar
Special Court following his arrest, which remanded him in ATS custody
till July 20.

Profile

Naser resided with his family in
Gaadivaan muhalla in Parbhani. His family comprises mother, father, wife
and three brothers. Two of his brothers run a hotel at Parbhani's Grand
Chowk. Naser graduated in Commerce from Shivaji Mahavidyalay, following
which he tried pursuing a degree in a technical subject but left it
midway. A strict follower of Islam, he never missed offering prayers
five times a day.

Parbhani man made bomb, sent pics to ISIS

Aurangabad: The Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) told a special
court on Wednesday that suspected Islamic State operative Nasir alias
Qadir Abu Bakr Yafai Chaush had allegedly already assembled a bomb using
materials sourced from Nagpur, Pune and Hyderabad and sent pictures of
the explosive to his Syria-based handler.

The
state ATS arrested the 31-year-old diploma engineer from Parbhani
district, around 185km from Aurangabad, for his alleged links with the
IS, earlier this month. He was remanded in police custody for seven days
until Wednesday .

Special
public prosecutor Sudesh Shirsath representing the ATS, told the court
headed by special judge S L Pathan that the IS suspect had assembled a
bomb with the material collected from different cities in and outside
the state.

The suspected ISIS operative, who was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) from Parbhani today, has been sent to police custody till July 20 by an Aurangabad court. The
31-year-old Naser bin Yafai Chaus, a resident of Maharashtra's Parbhani
district, was reportedly in touch with another wanted accused Farooque
based in Syria.
He was also allegedly trying to influence youth through social networking sites using different handles and profiles.

On Tuesday, the National Investigation
Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested two persons in connection with the
ongoing investigation of a terrorist conspiracy case in Hyderabad. The
NIA had on June 22 lodged a common FIR against ISIS for 'criminal
conspiracy to wage war against the Government of India' by collecting
weapons and explosive materials to target public places, religious sites
and sensitive government buildings in various parts of the country.

100 youths from Marathwada in touch with ISIS, claims Shiv Sena MLA

Shiv Sena MLA Dr Rahul Patil today
claimed that around 100 youths from the Marathwada rehion were missing
and were suspected to be in touch with the ISIS. Patil, an MLA from
Parbhani Assembly constituency in Marathwada region raised this question
through Point of Propriety. Patil said that the state government sould
act well in time or else this will be a big danger for the country.
Patil, however, did not furnish any claims to substantiate his
allegations.

The Shiv Sena MLA also demanded that the AIMIM
should be derecognised as a political party and alleged that the AIMIM
is supporting such youth with terror links. Patil was refering to the
arrest of a 31-year-old man with alleged ISIS links was arrested by
Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

The suspect is a resident
of Parbhani district of Maharashtra and was in touch with another
wanted accused Farooque who is based in Syria and was trying to
influence youth through social media using different handles and profile
IDs.

The AIMIM sharply reacted to the Shiv Sena allegations
saying that there is no substance to the allegations made by the Shiv
Sena.
AIMIM MLA from BYculla, Mumbai Advb Waris Pathan said that
the AIMIM was merely offering legal aide to muslim youths as in the past
inncent youth had to suffer in cases like the Malegaon blasts.

Another ISIS suspect arrested in Maharashtra

The Maharashtra Anti-terrorist Squad (ATS) on Sunday arrested
24-year-old Shahid Khan from Parbhani district on charges of allegedly
having links with the ISIS. Several explosives and other instruments were also seized from his possession. The ATS team, however, refused to divulge further details, saying
information on the same will be provided once the accused is produced
before the court.

Youth with suspected ISIS links held with 1 kg explosives at Parbhani

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS)
yesterday arrested a 24-year-old youth from Parbhani district in
Marathwada region for suspected ISIS links.

“Khan was arrested early today and around
one kg of explosives and other instruments have been recovered from
him,” a senior ATS official said.

Prima facie, the explosives are low
grade explosives, the official said. Khan was also found to have used a
car remote key for operating an IED, he said.
ATS is also probing his suspected connections with global terror outfit ISIS.Also at ParbhaniRecently, 31-year-old Nasir Bin
Yafi Chaus was arrested from Parbhani. Chaus was planning to join the
Islamic State and was in constant touch with their members through
social media.
On Friday, a 43-year-old man — Rizwan Khan —allegedly involved in
recruiting youths for ISIS was arrested from Thane district in a joint
operation by Kerala Police and the Maharashtra ATS, as part of the probe
in the southern state, where several youths are suspected to have
joined the terror group and headed to destinations abroad after being
radicalised.
Khan was picked up from his residence at Kalyan in Thane, within days
of arrest of a man associated with Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) of
controversial preacher Zakir Naik, based on a complaint in Kerala.

On July 21, Kerala Police, assisted by
Maharashtra ATS, arrested Arshi Qureshi, associated with IRF, from Navi
Mumbai for allegedly radicalising youths.
The Kerala police traced Qureshi to Mumbai following a complaint
lodged in Kochi by the brother of a young woman, suspected to have
joined ISIS along with her husband and left the state.

Politics over ISIS suspect arrest heats up

After a Shiv Sena raised the issue in
the state assembly of 100 youth from Parbhani missing and being in touch
with the ISIS, politics over the issue has heated up.
Shiv Sena
MLA Dr Rahul Patil that raised the issue in the House last week now
wants a dedicated ATS office in Parbhani, where a suspect was arrested
earlier this month.
"ATS chief Atul Kulkarni has agreed in Latur
yesterday that 100 youth are missing from Parbhani apart from the
divisional office at Aurangabad we now want a dedicated ATS office in
Parbhani with an IPS officer" said Dr Rahul Patil, Shiv Sena MLA from
Parbhani.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi party leader Abu Asim Azmi has come
out in support of the terror suspect Nasir Chaus who was arrested from
Parbhani earlier this month. He said "Chaus is being harassed. He is
arrested and his brother was forcefully asked to sign papers.
Chaus
is from a farmer family and hence had urea stored. Hundreds of Muslim
youth are being harassed in the name of action against ISIS."

ATS arrests third active IS suspect in Parbhani

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad
(ATS) officials have arrested another Islamic State (IS) sympathiser,
based in Parbhani, and suspected to be involved in anti-national
activities. Iqbal Ahmed Kabir Ahmed (28) was brainwashed with the IS
ideology and was in close contact with the other arrested accused along
with the IS’s foreign handler.
“We have found concrete evidence pointing his involvement as an
active member of the (Parbhani) module, so he was placed under arrest,”
said Atulchandra Kulkarni, additional director general of police, ATS.Connecting the dotsAccording to sources, Ahmed
is an HSC graduate, who hails from a poor family living in Gulzar
Colony, Parbhani. Around three weeks ago, he was employed with a local
dealer of a cellular service provider. Later, he took up the job of an
estate broker.
Ahmed is a close friend of Shahid Khan, who was earlier arrested with
Naser Chaus from Parbhani for plotting to bomb the Nanded and
Aurangabad police headquarters. Ahmed, who was internet-savvy, was
active online and was using various accounts on the internet.
After Chaus and Khan’s arrest, Ahmed was questioned by the ATS due to
his proximity to the duo, however, he was let go at the time. On
Sunday, he was again called in by the Nanded ATS for questioning and
this time, he was arrested, an ATS officer said. Sources said that Ahmed’s name cropped up in the investigation after
ATS analysed the phone call details and Khan’s online activities.The bike conundrum

More arrests are likely in the
case as ATS officials have now turned their sights on those who had
provided aid and logistical support to the arrested accused. The police
is also on the lookout for those who may be linked with a bike,
suspected to be used to carry out the attack and which was seized by the
ATS.

The bike was bought with the aid of a mediator from a private finance
company. This mediator is suspected to be involved in conducting
reconnaissance of the police headquarters with other accused.
The arrested accused have been booked under relevant sections of UAPA
Act and Explosives Act. ATS has also booked Syria-based handler,
Farooq, for indoctrinating Chaus and Khan and also carry out an attack
in India.

The two were plotting the attack during Ramadan, but developed cold
feet and decided to postpone it to Ganeshotsav. The ATS had also seized a
IED from their possession and they were suspected to be funded via
hawala.

Youth held for ISIS link was planning attack: ATS

ATS source says Shahed Khan had explosive that could have been meant for use on an individual

The 24-year-old youth arrested from Parbhani on Sunday for alleged
links with banned terror organisation Islamic State (ISIS) was planning
to attack an individual in the state, said a senior officer from the
Anti-Terrorism squad (ATS). Officials added that Shahed Khan, the
arrested accused, had been working with Naser Bin Yafai Chaus (31), who
was apprehended earlier this month.

Khan, who was arrested from his house, was found to be in possession
of explosives. Officials added they had been able to analyse the
Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and found it to contain charcoal,
urea, sulfur, potassium nitrate and matchstick powder. Sources in the
ATS, who conducted the arrest operation, said Chaus and Khan had been
recruited by an ISIS operative to carry out an attack on an individual
in the Marathwada region.

“Looking at the make of the bomb, we suspect that they were planning
an attack on one person. It is also possible that they were targeting
one person who would be present in a crowded area so that maximum damage
could be caused,” said an officer.

Khan, who was presented in a special court in Aurangabad by ATS
officials, was remanded to custody till July 29. Officials have now sent
his mobile phones and laptops for forensic analysis to gather if he was
in touch with somebody else.

Sources revealed that a man identified as Farrokh had reached out to
Chaus, a civil engineer from Parbhani, after Chaus started visiting
websites and chat portals with many ISIS sympathisers.
“While Chaus wanted to go to Syria, Farrokh asked to stay back in
India and help them plan an attack in the state, and as part of this,
Chaus recruited Khan and both of them started working together,” said a
senior officer. He added that Farookh also sent links and material
available online about making bombs and IEDs.

“Farookh shared the data with Chaus who he was in touch with after
having found him on a website propagating ISIS’s message. Chaus then
sent this data to Khan, who then built the device,” said an officer.
In addition to the IED, the ATS officers found a trigger device in a car remote.

“In addition to an attack on an individual, we suspect they were
planning attacks in areas like Nanded and Hyderabad and one of them was
to be carried out during the month of Ramzan,” the officer.
Senior officers added that more arrests are likely in the coming days.
“There was a whole Prabhani module in place and we suspect Chaus and
Khan were working with others and our investigations are on for the
same,” said an officer.

'Suspect kept stolen vehicle with friend in city'

Aurangabad: A youth from Aurangabad on Saturday alerted the city police
that the ISIS suspect arrested from Parbhani had parked a bike at his
house in the city last month.

The 26-year-old youth, a resident
of Champa Chowk area, on Saturday met police commissioner Amitesh Kumar.
He informed that one of the two ISIS suspects from Parbhani arrested by
the state anti-terrorism squad was his friend and the suspect had
parked a bike at his home sometime in June.

"Prima facie, it
appears that the youth who has approached us and shown trust in the law
enforcement agencies, is 99% innocent. Nothing can be said unless and
until a detailed probe is carried out on the information provided by
him," said Kumar.

The officer said the bike seems to have been
stolen as it was bearing Aurangabad registration number. On conducting
further checks, it was found the the motorcycle was stolen from the
neighbouring district of Jalna.

The ATS recently arrested Naser
Bin Abu Bakr Yafai (31) and Mohammed Shahed Ali Khan Qader Ali Khan
(24), both from Parbhani, on the charges of preparing an Improvised
Explosive Device and preparing to strike on the instructions of their
suspected handler, an ISIS commander.

"I came in contact with
Mohammed Shahed Ali, when we both were employed with a local telecom
service provider about two to three years back. Since then, we have
remained in touch on and off," the youth told TOI.

He added,
"Shahed contacted me sometime in June and asked me to keep a bike, which
he claimed was his and informed me that he would come and collect it
whenever he needs it. I agreed to it and kept the bike. I was shocked
when I read the news of his arrest."

After
ascertaining that it was indeed his friend, who had been arrested, he
decided to approach Aurangabad city police to reveal the details of his
contact with Shahed.

Police
officials said that on checking the details of the bike, the crime
branch authorities have found that it has a forged registration plate
and it was stolen from the Jalna district.

After
taking the incident on police record, ATS teams were alerted and were
in the process of recording the youth's statement till late evening.
"The revelations made by the youth are startling. They clearly indicate
that the suspect had already made preparations for carrying out blast at
Aurangabad. Most of the stolen bikes and vehicles are used for similar
kind of anti-social and anti-national activities," a senior ATS officer
said.

The
officer also said that though prima facie the information provided by
the youth appears to be true, they were checking the veracity of his
claims.

Walking hurriedly inside the Aurangabad
Police Headquarters, a man stopped outside the police commissioner's
office and told one of the cops," I have to meet the police
commissioner. This is urgent."
"You need to take appointment
first," Commissioner Amitesh Kumar's PA told the man. The 26-year-old
man insisted on meeting the top cop saying he has something very
important to share.
He was allowed to meet the police
commissioner following a quick background check and what he told Amitesh
Kumar shocked the senior police officer.
"The guy told me that
he was close friend of one of the ISIS suspects arrested recently. He
also revealed many important facts," Commissioner Amitesh Kumar told
India Today over phone.
Amitesh Kumar confirmed the news about a
stolen motorcycle used by the recently arrested ISIS suspect. The
suspect was arrested a week ago from Parbhani in Marathwada.
"The
youth was in hurry to meet me immediately and in person. After initial
verification about the youth, he was allowed to meet me,"
he said. During his meeting the youth told the police commissioner that
one of the two ISIS suspects who were recently arrested from Parbhani,
was his friend. But this was not the end of the information that this
youth wanted to share.STOLEN MOTORCYCLE
Commissioner
of Police of Aurangabad city was anxious yet he was carefully noticing
the facial expressions, the body language of the 26-year-old youth. He
said that Mohammed Shahed Ali Khan , one of the two ISIS suspects was
his friend. He said that both of them used to work for the same company
in Aurangabad and were in contact with each other till recent times.
He
also added that in the month of June, Mohammed Shahed Ali Khan came to
his place with a bike and requested to allow him park his motorbike at
his place for a few days. As both had known each other for a couple of
years, he had agreed and thus Mohammed Shahed Ali Khan kept the bike at
the residence of this youth in Champa Chowk Colony. POSSIBLE TERROR ATTACK AVERTED
After hearing out the youth, the police commissioner swung into action.
The police got the registration of the bike verified and it was even
more alarming when it was confirmed that the bike had forged
registration number and turned out to be a stolen bike. CP Amitesh Kumar
confirmed to India Today that they have seized the bike and are now
tracing the original owner of the bike.
Further the ATS team was
informed about the bike and the youth. ATS are now in touch with the
youth who has shared very important information that might have saved a
possible terror attack. ISIS LINKS
On July 14, ATS
had arrested Naser Bin Abubkar on charges of ISIS connections, during
his interrogation it was revealed that 22-year-old Mohammed Shahed Ali
Khan was in direct communication with accuse Naser Bin Abubkar. At 11:30
pm on July 24, Mohammed Shahed Ali Khan was taken into custody. Later,
ATS had also seized an IED (improvised explosive device ) weighing one
kilogram from the place where Mohammed Shahed Ali Khan was staying.
ATS
ADG Atul Chandra Kulkarni had confirmed to India today on July 25th
that an IED (improvised explosive device) weighing one kilo has been
seized from this arrested accuse.

The Maharashtra Anti Terrorist
Squad (ATS) as well as the Aurangabad city police are now working hard
to connect the dots. They are in the process of tracking down the owner
of the bike and interrogating Mohammed Shahed Ali Khan who will remain
in police custody till August 12th. Police are looking to find
crucial details to certain if the stolen bike was supposed to have been
used for terrorist activities.

Parbhani 'ISIS men' wanted to bomb Aurangabad, Nanded police HQs

Naseer Chaus and Shahid Khan, the two men
arrested from Parbhani on July 15, were plotting to bomb the Nanded and
Aurangabad police headquarters, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has
said.

An ATS source close to the investigation
told mid-day that the two were plotting the attack during Ramzan but
developed cold feet and decided to launch the attack during Ganeshotsav.

Chaus and Khan were arrested with an improvised explosive device in their possession. The ATS had earlier said that they got the know-how from the Islamic
State’s Science Wing via secure instant messengers like Telegram and
Calculator. The two allegedly sourced the material for the explosives
from Hyderabad Nanded and Pune.The ATS source told mid-day on Tuesday that the two were funded via the hawala route.
The sources said that the Nanded Unit of the ATS on Monday recovered a
stolen motorcycle, which the two were allegedly planning to use for one
of the blasts.
The official told mid-day that Chaus, a failed civil engineering
student from Parbhani, wanted to go to Iraq to fight alongside the IS
forces, but was dissuaded by a person known only as Farookh to stay in
India.
“This person indoctrinated them saying they could become the first to
carry out a lone wolf attack in India,” the official told mid-day.
The official said Farookh had asked Chaus to get more people to join
him and open several accounts on secure applications and websites.

Chaus then started communicating with
several ISIS ‘commanders’ in Iraq, who guided him to make bombs with
cheap and easily available material. They planned to use a car remote as
a trigger for the bomb. They used material like charcoal, urea, sulfur,
potassium nitrate and matchstick powder.Bike recoveredThe ATS said that on Monday, a
friend of Chaus approached the ATS unit of Nanded and told them that he
learnt about the arrests only recently and told the cops that Chaus had
left a stolen motorcycle with him. ATS officials who recovered the bike
said it was likely that Chaus planned to use it to plant the IED.
“They wanted the first such attack to be on the police, who they claim they have declared a war on,” said the official.
The two are presently in the custody of Nanded unit of ATS.

How black tape helped Parbhani ISIS sympathisers evade investigators

Naser Bin Yafai Chaus, the 31-year-old
civil contractor, and one of the two Parbhani-based arrested ISIS
sympathisers, was in touch with the Syria-based handler Farookh for over
a year. Throughout this period, he managed to evade security agencies
and made preparations for an attack. Now, ATS has finally found how
Chaus and other IS sympathisers managed to keep themselves off security
agencies’ radars. One of the ways was by the use of only a black tape.

ATS sources said that the IS handlers
have taught their foot soldiers in India various ways to evade security
agencies. One of these ways was revealed in this recent crackdown of
Maharashtra ATS in Parbhani.
Sources said that instead of making phone calls the suspects have
started using data-based video-calling. But after IS handlers learnt
that the security agencies have started hacking their video calls with
the help of ethical hackers, they have become smarter. They (terror
suspects) have started pasting black tape on the front camera of their
mobile devices while video chatting with each other. This prevents
reorganization of their faces by the security agencies even if their
video calls are hacked.

After Naser’s arrest, when ATS officials seized his belongings, they
noticed one unusual thing. The three mobile phones seized from Naser had
black tape pasted on their front cameras. When investigators inquired
about this, the modus operandi of how IS sympathisers evade agencies was
revealed. “We suspect, the foreign handler Farookh, who is believed to
be Ansar ul Tawhid (AuT) chief Shafi Armar alias Yusuf, taught Naser
this modus operandi to evade arrest,” said an ATS officer.

ISIS parbhani module: Accused may have dumped explosives in river

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) now
suspects that the four arrested Parbhani-based IS sympathisers may have
destroyed some explosives, as the quantity seized from one of the
accused does not seem sufficient to carry out their plan to target two
police establishments and a senior police officer.
The ATS has arrested Naser Chaus, Shahid Khan, Iqbal Ahmed Kabir
Ahmed and Mohammed Raisuddin under relevant sections of Unlawful
Activities Prevention Act and the Indian Penal Code. Later, the ATS
further invoked sections of Explosives Act after an Improvised Explosive
Device (IED) was found from Chaus's relative's home.

The seized explosives weighed over one kg and could strike a low
intensity blast. It was sent to FSL for examination. A senior ATS
officer said the IED was prepared on the instructions of ISIS’s foreign
handler Farooq, who taught the accused how to make the bombs online. In
fact, to ensure that the IED is made perfectly, he even asked for a
picture of their handiwork to be sent to him.

However, after interrogating Chaus and other accused, the ATS learnt
that the seized explosive is not the entire haul. The police now
believes that after the accused got wind that the cops were onto them,
they disposed off some of their stash, probably in a river. On Friday the court sent Chaus to judicial custody and remanded the three others to ATS custody.

Updated: Oct 24, 2016 00:26 ISTATS investigators said Naseer Bin alias Chaus was in touch with a
certain Farooq from Syria, and that Farooq sent him various links with
information on making bombs. Using this, the module’s members managed to
put together a low-intensity explosive, the charge sheet states. After
making the bomb, the suspects made a video and sent it to their handler,
according to the ATS.

“The suspect also created multiple IDs for various chat rooms apart
from email IDs,” a source in the ATS said. According to the charge
sheet, the accused communicated with their handlers using the massaging
app Telegram and were members of 33 groups, including one that had 1,500
members. The ISIS handlers and the suspects also used Skype, Pidgin,
Trillian and Paltalk to communicate, ATS officials said.

Most of the seized materials have been sent to a forensic laboratory.
The ATS also found 7,941 conversations in Urdu and Arabic and other
documents on Naseer’s hard disk.
Chaus, a civil contractor and hotelier, was the first to be arrested.
His arrest led to that of Shahid Khan, 24, an ITI dropout, on July 24
and that of Iqbal Ahmed Kabir Ahmed, 28, who worked in a mobile phone
shop, on August 7. The fourth accused, Raisuddin Siddique, 37, a teacher
from Hingoli, was arrested on August 8. Siddique was allegedly the
commander in the module.

Parbhani ISIS suspects ‘planned recces with bombs’

Five alleged recruits of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS)
from Parbhani had conducted a recce of the police headquarters at
Aurangabad and the home of a senior police official and planned to
strike at both places, according to a charge sheet filed by
Maharashtra’s anti-terrorism squad in the first week of October.

Five alleged recruits of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS)
from Parbhani had conducted a recce of the police headquarters at
Aurangabad and the home of a senior police official and planned to
strike at both places, according to a charge sheet filed by
Maharashtra’s anti-terrorism squad in the first week of October.

The charge sheet, of which HT has a copy, states that the suspects
made bombs using information from websites sent to them by foreign ISIS
handlers. A source said the recce was conducted by Shahid Khan, who was
carrying explosives at the time.
The source added that most of these revelations came from the
questioning of Raisuddin Siddique, a teacher from Hingoli and the
alleged commander of the module. He was the fourth person arrested in
the case.

Investigators have learnt that a handler named Farooq sent Siddique a
few links that helped him prepare a bomb. According to the charge sheet
Chaus, Khan and others prepared a low-intensity improvised explosive
device (IED) using a potent mix of matchstick powder, sulphur, charcoal,
urea and potassium nitrate, with shrapnel embedded in it to cause extra
damage. This IED was recovered from Shahid’s ancestral home, where his
grandmother lives.

According to the ATS, the bomb was assembled at Iqbal Ahmed Kabir
Ahmed’s home, and men wanted to carry out attacks to avenge the death of
alleged SIMI operative Khalil Qureshi, 20, who was killed in an
encounter by the Aurangabad ATS in April 2012.
According to a source, the first attack was to be carried out by
Shahid; if he was unsuccessful then Iqbal would attempt to do so.
According to the case registered by the agency, Chaus had also obtained
material to prepare bombs from a local market.

An ATS source said the suspects met at Mumtaznagar, Parbhani, to
choose specific targets and plan the attacks. However, they were
arrested before they could execute their plans.
The ATS charge sheet also relies on call records to show their links
with each other and to show they attended a meeting to discuss the
attacks.